Participating in the faster rides lately has really made me think about my weight in a lot of ways. While I'm not "fat", at 220 lbs. I'm definitely a larger rider and it really takes its toll on hills. I'm not really into the technical side of cycling but I'd be curious to know how much more power/energy I need to expend vs. other cyclists in order to get up some of the larger hills. Why do I suddenly bring this up? Well I've been struggling a bit on the rides lately, particularly in the hotter weather. I realize I need to lose weight in order to take up my cycling game.
This is where it gets tricky. I read somewhere that the best way to burn calories/fat and lose weight on the bike is through long rides with sustained low-intensity effort. In other words, you are much more likely to lose weight riding 75 miles at 15 mph than doing 50 miles at 20 mph. I definitely believe this to be the case. While I'm so much more tired after the faster rides I do, I'm having a lot of trouble losing weight doing them. By contrast, when I rode longer distances at much slower speeds in Italy, the weight was flying off of me.
I also need to do a better job of watching what I eat. I'd love to get down to 200 lbs and see how my riding responds. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself because that'll guarantee failure but it's something I'm targeting. I guess it's just a question of how to get there?
Friday, July 31, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
PIMp My Language
I'm nearing the end of Pimsleur and it's definitely a bittersweet moment. I'm psyched to have completed the series but I'm truly going to miss it. If you ever decide to try and learn a foreign language, please give Pimsleur strong consideration. Like any other language program it has some shortcomings, but the methodology is so incredibly positive in terms of your ability to retain information and speak the language. I'm truly amazed how far I've come after only a little over 3 months.
Knowing Pimsleur was coming to an end, over the past few weeks, I started to contemplate what was next for my quest to learn Italian. I considered taking a course at the local community college but given the relatively unorthodox way I am learning I figured this was not a good fit. Next, I started researching other self-study courses that would specifically address grammar and vocabulary, the two biggest Pimsleur deficiencies. After careful consideration, I've chosen Italian With Ease by Assimil. It's a nice transition from Pimsleur for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is there's also a CD listening component to the series. I got the program a few days ago and it looks pretty interesting. It has 105 lessons and the publisher says it should take you 6 months to complete -- although I'm thinking I should be able to do it in about 4 months because they assume you need a few days to get through each of the first few lessons if this is your first language series. I would agree with them that it appears fairly advanced off the bat/it's not as accodomating for true beginners as PIM.
So regarding PIM, today I'm doing lesson 28 of level III. This means I have only 2 more lessons left. Next week I'll be starting Assimil. However, I get the feeling I'm still going to using PIM in my quest to learn Italian. I'll probably re-do level III lessons as I drive in the car, etc... So maybe this isn't goodbye to PIM as much as a transition to a different way of using it. Regardless, PIM is GOD.
Knowing Pimsleur was coming to an end, over the past few weeks, I started to contemplate what was next for my quest to learn Italian. I considered taking a course at the local community college but given the relatively unorthodox way I am learning I figured this was not a good fit. Next, I started researching other self-study courses that would specifically address grammar and vocabulary, the two biggest Pimsleur deficiencies. After careful consideration, I've chosen Italian With Ease by Assimil. It's a nice transition from Pimsleur for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is there's also a CD listening component to the series. I got the program a few days ago and it looks pretty interesting. It has 105 lessons and the publisher says it should take you 6 months to complete -- although I'm thinking I should be able to do it in about 4 months because they assume you need a few days to get through each of the first few lessons if this is your first language series. I would agree with them that it appears fairly advanced off the bat/it's not as accodomating for true beginners as PIM.
So regarding PIM, today I'm doing lesson 28 of level III. This means I have only 2 more lessons left. Next week I'll be starting Assimil. However, I get the feeling I'm still going to using PIM in my quest to learn Italian. I'll probably re-do level III lessons as I drive in the car, etc... So maybe this isn't goodbye to PIM as much as a transition to a different way of using it. Regardless, PIM is GOD.
Monday, July 20, 2009
P-Push It Real Good
I never got to my Italy tour follow-up post and not sure I ever will. I kind of missed the sweet spot for writing it because I got caught up in some other things (firSSt can attest to how busy you can get not working sometimes).
So if you're wondering about my blog post title, aside from a good opportunity to homage Salt-N-Peppa, I've been stepping up my cycling game lately and really pushing myself to the limit. Before I jump into the details I want to give LI cycling the props it deserves. If you recall, when I moved out here I was nervous about finding good riding. But now I can't imagine riding anywhere else. The north shore of LI has some awesome scenery and hills with very limited traffic. I would estimate that I see about 25% of the cars on LI rides as I do on NYCC rides.
Two Saturdays ago I decided to join the fastest "A" group in the Long Island Bike Club. I had previously done two rides with the club but both times with the B group. Man, was it a challenge. But a good challenge. They really take no prisoners and they don't stop nearly as much as the B group. The A group can bang out 50 miles in under 3 hours including a bathroom/snack break. It takes upwards of 5 hours to ride 50 miles in a B group because of the slower speed and the generally more relaxed attitude towards stopping and overall lingering.
I definitely struggled a bit on my first A ride because I had forgotten about the importance of nutrition when you push yourself. I'd been doing so many B rides that I got into the bad habit of 1) not eating before the ride and 2) not bringing food on the ride. These came back to haunt me big time on my first fast ride. About halfway through I started to bonk (go anerobic) and I became like a homeless person begging for food. Someone was nice enough to give me an energy bar but the damage was already largely done. (Once you go bonk, you never come back.) Luckily I only half-bonked so I was able to struggle my way through the rest of the ride. Afterward, Phil, the rider leader, invited me to a training ride on Tuesday.
The Tuesday ride took things up another level. The best woman triathlete on the east coast rode with us, as well as a professional woman triathlete who was ranked in the top 50 in the world up until two months ago when she broke a bone in her foot. Suffice it to say she still roasted me on the bike even with a broken foot and after not riding for two months. After the Tuesday ride, I got invited to the Thurdsay training ride. This ride was even tougher than the Tuesday ride as a guy who used to race in Europe showed up. Man was he fast. These Tuesday/Thursday training rides seem like they have a certain minimum pace but can be a bit faster or slower depending on who shows up. Needless to say I did a lot of sleeping after the rides on Tuesday and Thursday but I'm feeling better and better with each ride. Saturday I rode with the A group in the LIBC again and felt great afterward.
I'm hoping the weather holds up tomorrow so the Tuesday ride is on. If I can continue making these rides I will soon be in the best cycling shape of my life and smash my mileage record from last year. I'd also love to lose some weight as I have issues keeping up on the hills sometimes. If I could lose another 15-20 lbs. (down to 195-200 lbs) I think I could be a force to be reconed with on the bike.
So if you're wondering about my blog post title, aside from a good opportunity to homage Salt-N-Peppa, I've been stepping up my cycling game lately and really pushing myself to the limit. Before I jump into the details I want to give LI cycling the props it deserves. If you recall, when I moved out here I was nervous about finding good riding. But now I can't imagine riding anywhere else. The north shore of LI has some awesome scenery and hills with very limited traffic. I would estimate that I see about 25% of the cars on LI rides as I do on NYCC rides.
Two Saturdays ago I decided to join the fastest "A" group in the Long Island Bike Club. I had previously done two rides with the club but both times with the B group. Man, was it a challenge. But a good challenge. They really take no prisoners and they don't stop nearly as much as the B group. The A group can bang out 50 miles in under 3 hours including a bathroom/snack break. It takes upwards of 5 hours to ride 50 miles in a B group because of the slower speed and the generally more relaxed attitude towards stopping and overall lingering.
I definitely struggled a bit on my first A ride because I had forgotten about the importance of nutrition when you push yourself. I'd been doing so many B rides that I got into the bad habit of 1) not eating before the ride and 2) not bringing food on the ride. These came back to haunt me big time on my first fast ride. About halfway through I started to bonk (go anerobic) and I became like a homeless person begging for food. Someone was nice enough to give me an energy bar but the damage was already largely done. (Once you go bonk, you never come back.) Luckily I only half-bonked so I was able to struggle my way through the rest of the ride. Afterward, Phil, the rider leader, invited me to a training ride on Tuesday.
The Tuesday ride took things up another level. The best woman triathlete on the east coast rode with us, as well as a professional woman triathlete who was ranked in the top 50 in the world up until two months ago when she broke a bone in her foot. Suffice it to say she still roasted me on the bike even with a broken foot and after not riding for two months. After the Tuesday ride, I got invited to the Thurdsay training ride. This ride was even tougher than the Tuesday ride as a guy who used to race in Europe showed up. Man was he fast. These Tuesday/Thursday training rides seem like they have a certain minimum pace but can be a bit faster or slower depending on who shows up. Needless to say I did a lot of sleeping after the rides on Tuesday and Thursday but I'm feeling better and better with each ride. Saturday I rode with the A group in the LIBC again and felt great afterward.
I'm hoping the weather holds up tomorrow so the Tuesday ride is on. If I can continue making these rides I will soon be in the best cycling shape of my life and smash my mileage record from last year. I'd also love to lose some weight as I have issues keeping up on the hills sometimes. If I could lose another 15-20 lbs. (down to 195-200 lbs) I think I could be a force to be reconed with on the bike.
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